Last month we had two ‘birders’ come down and spend some time in our Bird Sanctuary on the rail trail. This is what they found:
Birders: Paula McFarland & Sue McGrath
Location: Nevins Bird Sanctuary
Observation date: 5/23/10
Number of species: 32
Wood Duck 1
Mallard 3
Great Blue Heron 30 (approx 16 occupied nests!)
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Chimney Swift 10
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 1
Eastern Phoebe 7
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 3
Tree Swallow 10
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 5
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 7
Cedar Waxwing 10
Yellow Warbler 6
Common Yellowthroat 5
Scarlet Tanager 1
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 5
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Red-winged Blackbird 4
Common Grackle 15
Baltimore Oriole 11
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 15
Tags: birding, Methuen Wildlife, sanctuary
Methuen Rail Trail Alliance Meeting
Tuesday, June 8th at 7pm
Nevins Memorial Library
305 Broadway
Bike Rack Sighting : Market Basket, 70 Pleasant Valley Street
Now I can’t swear that this bike rack was in this spot last year….but when I surveyed the city, I didn’t find one. And when I biked to this store I ended up chaining my bike to a pillar. So, kudos to Market Basket/Demoulas for adding another bike rack to Methuen.
Tags: bike rack
Today on the Trail I spied some new graffiti – funny i dont’ remember THIS much tagging of the granite bridge..perhaps it’s a new phenomenon. there is also evidence of a camp fire and a lot of empty beer bottles, perhaps some kids were letting off some steam. now we have to get out there and clean it up.
Including somehow removing a television and a propane tank from the river.
Tags: graffiti, Today on the Trail
Our clean up days have been reduced to One Hour sweeps, and we do more in that one hour than most people do in three!
Thanks Gang!
Tags: cleanup
Methuen Rail Trail Meeting Tuesday May 11th 7:00pm
At the Nevins Library.
Please come and bring a friend, we SHOULD have some information regarding Iron Horse Preservation to share at the time.
Thank you for a successful cleanup day!
We had such a great turn out and accomplish so much more in these little clean up splurges, that in future we will limit our clean ups to no more than 1-2 hours, depending on location. Whatever we miss we get on the next pass.
This time out we tackled the Railroad St location just north of the Old Depot. There is an issue with trees and brush left on the trail from the VFW roofing project, but no doubt we can get that taken care of in time. Aside from that we made great headway removing all the visible trash and debris.
Tags: cleanup, Today on the Trail
the Methuen Rail Trail Alliance Meeting
will be held
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
7:00pm
Nevins Memorial Library
305 Broadway
Please attend if you, bring a friend if you like.
We are having a Membership drive
As always Methuen Rail Trail Alliance will be taking part in the Methuen Clean Up Day on May 8th.
We did such a bang up job last year in the wildlife sanctuary, we may have our eye on another debris filled section. Last year we were finished well before noon, so I don’t expect this spring to be any different.
Keep the Saturday free for a few hours of cleanup.
And don’t forget the Cookout at the Tenney School.
Methuen Annual Neighborhood Spring Clean Up
Saturday, May 8, 2010
9:00 am – Noon
Lend A Hand….. Get A Methuen T-Shirt!
Trash Bags Provided
Volunteer Cookout 12:30-2 pm
Tenney School Playground.
Tags: clean up
We have good news! Last year Methuen Rail Trail requested CVS on Broadway install a bike rack. Last month, when they did the repairs from the flooding, they installed a bike rack, however they installed it sideways. There is not enough room on either side for a bike to park, not people to pass. I have already requested that they turn it. 
Methuen Rail Trail Alliance Officers
Rail Trail Clean Up Day Results!
